When St. Henry parishioners Kay and John Dodd enrolled their seventh-grade daughter Hannah in St. Ann School’s new Hand in Hand Options program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, they hoped that she would once again enjoy going to school, and gain more independence and confidence.

Later this month Pope John Paul II High School will host the National Catholic Board on Full Inclusion’s first ever Inclusive Catholic High School Conference. “We will have schools from across the country who already have, or are looking to start, a high school program” for students with special needs, said JPII Headmaster Mike Deely.

WASHINGTON. A prayer here, a share on social media there, a voice of support in a letter to the editor, even a get-to-know-others potluck. Supporting refugees and migrants can take many forms, and Pope Francis is hoping Catholics around the world will act over the next two years to encounter people on the move.

As visitors and members of St. Michael Church in rural Robertson County streamed onto the church grounds on Sunday, Oct. 1, for the 175th anniversary of the church’s founding, they were greeted by the sound of the church bell tolling 175 times, hand operated by a volunteer tugging on the long rope in the bell tower, over and over again.

On Oct. 13, the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the final apparition of the Blessed Mother, under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary, to three children in Fatima, Portugal, and the Miracle of the Sun.

As Anthony Stewart prepared to process into St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome with 30 of his fellow seminarians from the Pontifical North American College to be ordained as transitional deacons, he was hit with a wave of emotion.

A priest is often there to share in some of the most important moments in the lives of their flock, from their birth and baptism, to their First Communion and Confirmation, to their marriage and the birth of their own children, and ultimately at their death.

Giving for the 2017 Bishop’s Annual Appeal for Ministries is running ahead of the previous year’s pace. The goal for this year’s Appeal is $1.9 million and so far the Diocese of Nashville has raised $1,088,435.33. That’s more than $150,000 ahead of last year at this time, said Sandra Jordan, director of grants and annual giving for the diocese.

At a time in Anthony Stewart’s life when he was struggling and unhappy, a priest helped him find hope in Christ. It started him on a journey into the Catholic Church, the seminary, and, eventually, the priesthood.

Fifteen years ago, new mom Jen Vogus – now a parishioner at Holy Family Church in Brentwood – became concerned about her 5-week-old son. “I had a normal birth,” said Vogus. “But shortly after he was born – Mother’s Day, 2002 – I was breastfeeding him and he started doing this eye twitch and lip pucker thing. It was odd, and I had never seen it before.”

In 1842, when the Diocese of Nashville was only five years old, and Catholics in the state of Tennessee numbered in the hundreds, a handful of Catholic families living on the rich farm land near Cedar Hill in Robertson County bought an acre of land for $5 and deeded it to Bishop Richard Pius Miles as the site of a new church.

WASHINGTON. Thousands sought shelter in Puerto Rico, as Hurricane Maria, called a “monster storm” by many, hit the Caribbean island just short of a Category 5 storm Sept. 20, with winds of 155 miles per hour.

The Catholic Business League has announced the inaugural class of Leadership Catholic, a year-long mentorship program that will connect emerging leaders early on in their careers with seasoned mentors to help them discover God’s path for their lives.

In the years since the Second Vatican Council, the changes to the liturgy that sprang from it have sparked debate in some corners of the Catholic Church. Some have argued that some of the changes went too far and they have called for a return to some of the wording and practices of the celebration of the Mass before the Council.